The Heart of the TARDIS
by BadWolfBeauty
Summary: Pete Tyler didn't know Rose was going to fall, so he wasn't there to catch her. But little does the Doctor know, Rose getting sucked into the Void is only the beginning. When he comes into contact with a strange individual whose life doesn't quite piece together, his world will be turned upside down. Rose/Ten. K , but later chapters may be changed to T.
1. Prolouge

**This first chapter is in the Doctor's first person. The rest will be in third. Enjoy. :)**

The worst day of my life was easily the day that Rose Tyler fell into the Void.

I'd already been incredibly uneasy, though showing it was the last thing I wanted to do. But then again, I suppose that's how I lost Rose. By trying to protect her.

So just as usual, we went along with my folly, acting as though nothing could possibly go bad, but we were so wrong. There was more danger in this one plan than we'd ever been in on all our wonderful adventures combined.

And what had I done? I'd laughed. I looked at the Daleks and Cybermen being torn from our world into the Void and I laughed.

"Into the Void, ha!" Killing two entire races, and I was triumphant. Even worse. Smug.

There I was, the invincible Doctor. So invincible, I often forgot that those around me were not nearly as safe from harm.

Did I think of that? No! Because when Rose's lever began to slide, I was mad. Furious even. My brilliant plan, gone completely to waste. If one Dalek escaped, the world would be in danger. I even had the nerve to be mad at Rose. Damn it, why can't her arms be longer? Will she stop treating this like a big joke and actually reach?

She did much more than that.

She completely let go of her safe position, risking everything to pull the pesky lever back into position. At that moment, my heart jumped and my skin went cold, and I had my first bit of fear. I could only breathe again when she had the lever upright and was safely grabbing onto it.

That moment of comfort was soon gone.

My eyes were now locked on her, and my relief went as quickly as it came. Her eyes. Her beautiful eyes. Why were they scared?

She shifted uncomfortably. "Rose! Hold on!" I trusted her to try. My cry was more of a prayer, if anything. My arm was outstretched, as if sheer will could possibly bring her right to me where I could hold her right where she belonged.

Wishful thinking. Her fingers were slipping. Pinky. Thumb. Ring finger. She was only holding on with two fingers on each hand.

I think she was crying. Maybe they were closer to moans of sheer terror. All I knew was that she was frightened beyond belief.

One pointer finger slid and failed to find its way back.

"Hold on!" I repeated, more desperately than before. Please, Rose. Hold on. You've got to hold on.

They never listen, do they? With one last shout, she lost hold completely and was taken from me.

"Rose!" I cried.

_You can't leave me. I've got so many things to say. My head's _full_ of ideas. Bursting with them. They're practically pouring out of my ears._

I was so close, too. Almost ready to tell her.

_I guess you'll never know now_, I thought bitterly. Her hair whipped across her face, red with tears. Her eyes were locked to mine, and I tried to imagine that if I kept contact, if we didn't blink, maybe I could save her. Reel her back in, like a fish caught on a line. But she was lost to the light. Sucked into the Void.

And then I did blink. I blinked and I blinked, squeezing my eyes shut in every way possible, hoping I was somehow blind temporarily, and when I regained my sight, Rose would be there.

My head was pounding, yet my feet failed to find rhythm as they carried me to the wall where the opening had been. I leant against the wall and allowed one tear. No. No no no no no. Not Rose. Not my wonderful, brilliant, _fantastic_ Rose.

I remember the T.A.R.D.I.S. being an unexpected comfort to me. I thought numbly to myself that it must be from all the time I spent with Rose here. It was true that I associated my Rose with the T.A.R.D.I.S., but it was something more. My machine was more than a machine, though. She was living, and I wondered if she could heal emotions, just as she could cure wounds faster.

_Of course,not,_ I thought resentfully. Besides, I did not want my emotions soothed. I deserved the pain that I felt. Every day should be a constant reminder of what I had condemned her to.

_She'll be dead by now. She wouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds in there without air._ But I had not even a body to mourn. She was completely lost to me.

Or so I thought.

The day I lost Rose Tyler to the Void was easily the worst day of my life. And yet, it could have easily been worse. A thousand things could have happened that would have meant more pain for the both of us.

Little did I know at that moment, however, that Rose was not lost to me. Our story was only beginning.

This is the story of all the times I lost my Rose.

More importantly, it is the story of how I found her every single time.


	2. A Woman in a Wedding Dress

**Hello. I'd just like to mention that this is AU from the end of Doomsday, and although it is mostly canon right now, it will stray way off later.**

**This is during the episode the Runaway Bride, but it is not exactly the same. I'm not going to do the whole episode, just parts because we've honestly all seen it and we don't need a script here. The dialogue taken from the episode is altered; I've made the Doctor a bit more angsty and a bit of a loose cannon. After all, here he has not simply lost Rose, he feels personally responsible for her death.**

**Enjoy. :)**

It had been a long few months. The Doctor was positively haunted with thoughts of Rose. Every time he could finally tear his thoughts away from her, his eyes would land on her jacket, he'd say something to himself that he once said aloud to her. Once, the T.A.R.D.I.S. even brought him to the beautiful planet with the frozen waves, except this time it didn't look beautiful. It was cruel and cold, and he walked back into the T.A.R.D.I.S. as soon as he came out.

To make matters worse, for once in his life there was nothing to do. No bad guys to capture. No aliens to save. Not even the slightest bit of adventure. He'd mourned the loss of Rose for over three months with nothing to comfort or distract him.

He'd considered going to talk to the Tyler's and Mickey. A supernova was burning at that very moment, and if he made his calculations one hundred percent accurate, it could harness enough power to project his image into their world. It was his last chance; the last gap between their universes was closing up. They deserved to know what happened. He couldn't let them go on thinking that Rose was unharmed. They thought he had kept her safe, and he'd failed.

But once the Doctor was in orbit around the dying star, he chickened out. The Doctor was hardly one to back down, ever, but for once in his life, he didn't have a strong opinion on what was the right thing to do. He absolutely hated the idea of lying to Rose's family, but at the same time, he couldn't bear to break their hearts any further, nor his own. Pete and Mickey might understand that he was just as devastated as them, and he'd do _anything_ in the world to bring Rose back. But Jackie? No, she'd yell and scream and cry and blame him for everything. And that was probably justified, but he didn't think he could stand that much guilt.

Sighing, the Doctor moved to the other side of the T.A.R.D.I.S. console, and fiddled with a few controls. The blue box turned slowly a few time and pulled out of orbit.

The Doctor was glaring at the wall, trying to wrap his head around what he had just done, when suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck rose. He could sense another presence in the room. There was someone with him in the T.A.R.D.I.S. He spun around, prepared for anything.

Anything except that. "What?!" he exclaimed with a hurt expression on his face. This was so unfair. Of all the things… It was a bride. A woman in a wedding dress. Here he was, just having lost the girl that he had loved more than he had ever loved anyone before. And a woman shows up in_ his_ T.A.R.D.I.S. in a _wedding dress_.

But more importantly, how had she gotten there? "OH!" cried the redheaded woman indignantly. "Who are you?" she demanded, rather rudely in the Doctor's opinion.

"But—!" He was at a loss for words. The Doctor spluttered incoherently as the woman's eyes searched around.

"Where am I?"

"What?!" No. This was _completely_ impossible. She shouldn't be here. There was no way a human woman could have gotten on board in midflight. No. Way.

"What the hell is this place?" The bride was nearly shouting now, clearly frustrated at the lack of answers she was receiving.

"_WHAT?!"_ The Doctor finally found the words he was looking for, and they all poured out at once, in a big jumbled mess. "You can't do that, I wasn't... we're in flight! That is — that is physically impossible! How did — ?"

The rude woman interrupted. Alright then, never mind his important, possibly life-saving inquiries. "Tell me right now. I demand you tell me _right now_. Where am I?"

"The T.A.R.D.I.S." The Doctor was thinking hard. 'Will you just _shush?_' he wanted to say.

"The what?"

"The T.A.R.D.I.S." Not like you'd know what it is.

"The what?"

They repeated as so until the woman finally commented, "That's not even a proper word. You're just saying things."

If the Doctor hadn't been mad before, he was now. Arriving uninvited in a wedding gown of all things, insulting his T.A.R.D.I.S., and did this woman ever shut up? He was clearly concentrating, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked angrily. If she was going to talk, she might as well be useful.

"Well obviously, you kidnapped me. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh my God, she's finally got me back. This has Nerys—"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" he finally yelled. Immediately, he looked somewhat ashamed, but he still huffed angrily as he turned away and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment, "but I really haven't done anything. I'm just as lost as you are."

"Fat lot of good you are then. How am I supposed to get back to the wedding? I'm gonna be— " She spotted the doors and walked swiftly towards them. The Doctor ran forward and shouted in protest, but it was too late. The woman had flung them open and was now staring open-mouthed at the dying star that they were slowly drifting away from.

"You're in space," the Doctor said hesitantly. "Outer space," he clarified. "This is my… spaceship. It's called the T.A.R.D.I.S. "

"How am I breathing?"

"The T.A.R.D.I.S. is protecting us," he explained, feeling a small surge of pride in his magnificent living machine.

"Who are you?" Well, a bit late for introductions, but better now than never.

"I'm the Doctor. You?"

"Donna."

The Doctor peered carefully at her. "Human?" he inquired.

"Yeah. Is that optional?" She looked slightly offended, but the Doctor honestly couldn't care less.

"Well, it is for me," he responded.

"You're an alien."

The Doctor felt a slight pang. He remembered when Rose had found out that he wasn't from her world. He'd been a different man then, but he still smiled at the memory of her telling him that was alright.

"Yeah," he answered after his moment of thought.

Donna shivered. "It's freezing with these doors open."

_You're looking at more of the universe than you'll ever see, and you're concerned about the weather? Typical human, _the Doctor thought. Slightly peeved, he slammed them shut and darted back to his controls.

"But I don't understand it and I understand everything! This! This can't happen! There is _no_ way a human being can lock itself onto the T.A.R.D.I.S. and transport itself inside."

He continued to babble as he fished out an instrument. Frustrated and hurt as he was, the Doctor was still dying to find out how this annoying human being had found a way here.

"Impossible."

It was _literally_ impossible, and that is what upset the Doctor the most. _It would be impossible for Rose to come back to me, and even that would make more sense than this. So why not Rose? Why has this woman been sent to me instead?_

_Right. Back to the technical stuff. The sooner I figure out _how_ she is here, the sooner I can send her _away_._

"Some sort of subatomic connection?" he wondered. "Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic—"

Suddenly, there was a loud clap, and the Doctor vaguely noticed that his cheek was stinging.

__"What was _that _for?" She'd crossed the line. _Nobody_ slapped him. The only person who was allowed to slap him was Jackie Tyler, and she was literally a whole universe away.

"Get me to the church!" she screamed.

"Right! Fine!" The Doctor didn't really care anymore; he just wanted Donna to be far away from him. "I don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?"

**"**Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System," she informed him with the most attitude he'd heard in a long time.

He angrily punched in the controls, barely hearing Donna's next words. He didn't notice much at all until he caught a flash of purple. His eyes darted up for a second, and then he did a double take, eyes hardening as he spotted something in the redhead's hand that should never be there.

"I'm _not _the first, am I? How many women have you abducted?" She was completely oblivious to the pain she was causing him.

The Doctor snatched it from her hands and caressed it gently in his own. He turned away from her and examined Rose's blouse with the upmost care, trying to hold back the sting that came to his eyes.

"That's my… my…" He didn't really have a word for what Rose meant to him. "That belonged to Rose," he finished lamely.

"Where is she, then? Popped out for a space walk?" The words carved holes in his heart like a knife in his flesh.

"She's gone," came the forceful response.

"Gone _where_?" was accompanied by an eyeroll.

_Stop. Please just stop._ The Doctor forced himself to breathe. "I lost her," he said quietly when he thought he had regained control.

"Well, you can hurry up and lose _me_." His blood boiled, and for the first time, Donna noticed that something was wrong.

"How do you mean, 'lost?'" she asked much more delicately than before, but that was all it took to push the Doctor over the edge.

"She's dead!" he shouted, whirling around to face the redhead. "What do you think, Donna? She _died_! She died to save you and every other person on your planet, and you don't even think because you're too wrapped up in your own little world to see it! She gave up her life to save you and you just waltz right in and disrespect her in every way possible because you never just think for one moment, just one, that maybe there are brave, kind, loyal, compassionate people in the world who would give up their lives to save even those who really don't deserve it! But you never _do_ think, do you? And apparently I don't either because I should have found a way to stop it and I—" he drew in a sharp breath painfully as a tear spilled over, and he instantly felt bad. Donna's brow was furrowed, but it was in concern and confusion this time, not anger, and he ruefully swiped the offending wetness off his face, and shoved his hands into his pockets. The blouse now lay on the console.

Donna looked at him sadly and opened her mouth to give an apology or maybe speak words of comfort, but the Doctor beat her to it. "Ahem. Right… Sorry. Uncalled for."

Donna now looked mildly upset, and he couldn't help but warm up to her a bit. Besides, he felt badly for losing control as he did, and it was time to make it up to her. He rubbed the back of his head. "Right. Chiswick."

An intense taxi ride, a biodamp ring, and one informative internet search later, the Doctor stood watching the party with his back to the bar. He had many thoughts in his head, and he was struggling to concentrate on just one or two. Before he had the chance to reel in his ideas, however, someone caught his eye.

For just a moment, one crazy wild impossible moment, he thought it might be Rose with her wide eyes, plump lips, and carefully made up face, but he only had to look for a second to realize that the person he had seen was not as similar to Rose as he had thought. She was a brunette, and her hair was a bit messier and more layered than Rose's. Her skin was also a bit darker, a little bit more bronze like she had been out in the sun, and her eyes were almost black. In addition, she was a tad shorter and a few years younger than Rose. Rose had been about 21 when she died, but this girl couldn't have been more than 14.

_I need to stop seeing her everywhere. This is getting ridiculous. _The Doctor shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but something pulled at the back of his mind.

_I'm not seeing Rose because I see her everywhere. Something's different. There's something important or dangerous about this girl and it's staring me right in the face—What?! Where'd she go?_

In the two seconds he'd looked away, the girl had completely vanished.

Something was terribly wrong, he could taste it in the air. Most likely, this girl had something to do with everything that had happened today, which made her very dangerous, even more so because he had no clue who she could possibly be. Somehow, though, she was the cause of this; he was willing to bet on it.


	3. Not an Ounce of Fear

"Umm… wait just a second. I was wondering… before you show me how she… you know, vanished… can you play back this part right here?"

The Doctor was given a strangle look. "But that's just from a few minutes ago. You want to go back to here where—"

"It's alright," the Doctor interrupted impatiently. "It's just that I might have seen something related to the incident just now, and I'd like a good look if you wouldn't mind." He gave the cameraman a somewhat superior look over his spectacles.

"If you insist. Here it is."

The Doctor's eyes flickered across the screen as the man played back the last three minutes. He watched the images intently, and his eyes grew wider and wider at every second.

"And then here's you, coming over to see me," said the cameraman, pointing out the Doctor's slender figure on the screen, bounding forward to meet him.

"That's impossible," said the Doctor. "Play it again. Not the whole thing, mind you, I won't make you go that far, but just back thirty seconds. There!" he exclaimed as the tape wound back to the part he wanted to see. "Look right there. See it?"

"See what?"

"Look at this empty space," ordered the Doctor, pausing the video. "My eyes are focused right there, and they move around that area, see? I'm watching her right there, but she doesn't appear on the film. Strange, isn't it?" He removed his glasses and polished them on his tie.

"Umm… Who exactly?"

"There was a girl, never mind it doesn't matter who. The important thing is that I'm looking at a place where there is _nothing. _Doesn't that intrigue you in the slightest?"

"I don't know," the man responded hesitantly. "All I've got is your word. And look, even if she was there, the others don't seem to notice. That guy right there just walked extremely close to where she would have been. She was directly in his path of travel, and he didn't even glance."

The Doctor put his glasses back on and squinted at the screen. "Right there? Oh yes… Yes, you're quite right. Very good, brilliant even. Thank you for pointing that out." He stared into space, deep in thought for a moment before snapping back to life. "Alright then! Let's see this 'runaway bride' that we've got here, shall we?"

"I taped the whole thing - they've all had a look. They said 'sell it to _You've Been Framed.'_ I said 'more like the News.' Here we are..."

The Doctor stared intently at the screen, eyes widening as he witnessed the events that had occurred earlier. Impossible.

****"Can't be!" he proclaimed. "Play it again?"

"Clever, mind! Good trick, I'll give her that. _I _was clapping."

The Doctor moved himself closer, so close his nose was nearly touching the screen, and his brow was furrowed as he analyzed every frame.

**"**But that looks like... Huon Particles!" It was impossible. It could not possibly be Huon energy, could it?

**"**What's that?" asked the confused cameraman.

The Doctor ignored the question and continued to babble to himself as he whipped off his glasses. "That's impossible, that's... ancient! Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that..."

_Oh, no. Where's Donna?_ His eyes searched frantically for the bride, and when she came into his vision he focused on the ring he had given her to protect her.

"... it can't be hidden by a biodamper!"

The Doctor leapt out of the room and came to a messy stop at the window. Sure enough, two Santas were marching towards them, their shiny instruments positioned as the weapons they were. The Doctor bolted back into the main area where the party was still going full blast.

**"**Donna! Donna, they've found you," exclaimed the Doctor breathlessly when he reached the redheaded woman.

"But you said I was safe," she replied indignantly.

**"**The biodamper doesn't work. We've got to get everyone out." His eyes searched frantically around the room for a way to escape.** "**Out the back door!"

He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the exit, but they skidded to a halt as abruptly as they had started. Two Santas had that exit covered too.

"Maybe not." He slammed the doors shut and reentered the room, immediately bolting to the window.

He stood there breathlessly with a hopeless expression on his face, looking at the Santas and trying to connect the remote they possessed to anything he had seen in the room.

"We're trapped," said Donna.

**"**Christmas trees," the Doctor realized, daunted.

**"**What about them?"

**"**They kill!Get away from the tree!" he instructed the children gathered around.

Donna caught on, and together they shouted and pushed people away from the deadly decoration.

Donna's mother was not amused. "Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna... oh!"

"No," the Doctor breathed as the ornaments floated off the tree and started to spin in the air, but his voice was drowned out by the appreciative murmurs and delighted gasps as people watched the baubles dance. The Doctor's confused eyes followed them, but he didn't have to wait long for an answer as to what they were doing. He barely ducked in time as one whizzed past his ear and exploded behind him. The happy chatter turned into screaming as people ran for their lives. The room was in utter chaos as the glittering spheres dive-bombed Donna's friends and family. She herself had to dodge some of the weapons as her and her fiancé Lance hid under a table.

The Doctor leapt over obstacles in his path, and skidded behind the DJ booth. His shirt came partially untucked and his palms scraped, but he got to his feet and crouched over the edge considering what to do.

But amidst all of the panic, there was one lone figure that did not even flinch as the world shook and lit up around her. The Doctor squinted through the bright lights and debris flying through the air to discover that it was the same odd girl as before, standing directly in the middle of the room. There was not an ounce of fear or even concern on her face. She was blank, unconcerned with anything at all. The Doctor, of course, being the Doctor, knew immediately that somehow, she did not belong here, and tried to work it out, but even his highly superior brain could not come up with the smallest theory.

It took much self-control to tear his gaze away and focus on a solution to the more urgent problem. _Think, Doctor, think._

He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and considered his surroundings. _What can I do?_ Tables and chairs wouldn't help him, it would take too long to reprogram the Christmas tree, and the baubles were moving too quickly to prevent them from doing any more damage.

"Ow," he said, bumping his arm on the control panel, when it finally dawned on him. "Oh," he sighed, disappointed that he'd failed to see what was right in front of him. Nevertheless, he picked up the microphone and shouted, **"**Oi! Santa! Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver, don't let him near the sound system."

He held his sonic screwdriver next to the amplifiers and it made a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound that rattled bones and caused everyone to clench their hands to their ears. The Doctor admired his handiwork, watching the Santas fall to pieces right before everybody's eyes. He glanced about and sighed as the last Santa fell to the ground. He yanked the screwdriver out dejectedly as he thought, _Shoot. I missed her again._ In the few seconds that his attention had been turned away, she had managed to vanish for a second time. _Oh well, I suppose I can ask Donna who she was. It's not terribly unlikely that she's a guest. With all this strangeness going on with Donna, I'd bet that she's family._

The Doctor picked up the Santas' control and fiddled with it, trying to gather some form of information.

"Look at that — remote control for the decorations,but there's a second remote control for the robots." He picked up a metal head and poked around at the wires. "They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."

** "**Never mind all that," said Donna. "You're a doctor... people have been hurt."

**"**Nah, they wanted you alive, look, they're not active now," he continued, throwing her a bauble. _I'm not that kind of Doctor._

**"**All I'm saying - you could help."

_No, I really couldn't. _"Gotta think of the bigger picture," he said to brush her off. "There's still a signal!"

He dashed outside, and looked around before pulling out his sonic device once more to scan the head of the robot. He was just about to get results as Donna came up beside him.

"There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force," he stated, speaking more to himself to organize his facts, than he was actually cluing _her_ in.

"But why is it me? What have I done?"

The Doctor felt a bit of pity, but it didn't translate to his face, as he was working very hard.

**"**If we find the controller, we'll find that out," he said, hoping that that would be comfort enough. "Oh!"

The sonic screwdriver was pointed up towards the heavens. Both Donna and the Doctor stared upwards.

**"**It's up there. Something in the sky," he said, but he had no visual.

He looked back towards Donna with his arm still upraised to let the sonic screwdriver do its work.

"Donna…" he spoke thoughtfully. "When the Santas attacked, everyone was running around and hiding."

She scoffed. "Well, of course they were! I'm sorry we can't all be like you… Invincible and alien and stuff!"

"Yeah, that wasn't my point," he retorted, and she quickly fell silent. "What I wanted to say was that even though everyone was in a panic, there was this one girl just standing there. She wasn't fazed in the slightest!"

"Alright, that's a bit odd. But what's it got to do with me?"

He spun to face her fully. "Well, I wanted to know who she was. I thought she must be a guest. Someone from your family."

"What'd she look like?" asked Donna. "You've got to give me something to go on."

"You didn't see her?" he questioned incredulously. "You should've noticed something that out of place."

"Well, I didn't," she huffed, "so are you going to keep blabbing or actually give me a description, alien boy?"

"Right! Dark hair, dark eyes, round face, little bit of a… nose thing… chin and all…" he trailed of, running out of details to give her as the image burned in his mind and disrupted his thought process.

"Must be Lance's family. Was she his coloring? That'd be his mom's side of the family. Or darker? 'Cause that would be his dad's."

"No, not at all. She was definitely Caucasian."

"Well," said Donna, with her hands on her hips. "That just isn't possible."

"Why not?"

"Look at my hair."

"Yeah? You're a redhead. So?" he responded, trying to find the connection.

She rolled her eyes. "So's everyone else. _We're all ginger._" She gave a smug smile. "So it is not possible for her to be related to moi."

His brow furrowed. "But—"

"Not possible, Doctor," she told him before he could even finish his theory. "You must've just been seeing things."

His mouth closed and he continued to frown, a million ideas streaming through his mind, until something caught his attention.

"I've lost the signal — Donna, we've got to get to your office, H.C. Clements. I think that's where it all started. Lance — is it Lance? Can you give me a lift?"

He was more eager to solve this mystery than ever.


	4. Find Someone

"Blimey, you can shout!"

They had just defeated the Racnoss, and Donna was safe back home. The Doctor was ready to depart, but a deafening yell had found its way through the walls of the T.A.R.D.I.S., and he poked his head back out, looking sadly at the redhead that had summoned him.

He would have liked it very much if Donna had decided to travel with him. She was full of attitude and spunk: just what he needed to brighten the mood. But even more than that, the Doctor found that they were more similar than he had thought. There was a sense of loneliness and disappointment in both of them, although for different reasons. The Doctor imagined that they could have helped each other heal. They could have provided each other hope.

That was not to be. He was all by himself once more, and it was with that heartbreaking fact that he had officially decided to never travel with another again. It was too risky, and he always ended up hurt. It would be for the best if he didn't start any new friendships or relationships. The T.A.R.D.I.S. had always been more than enough to keep him company.

But until he set off again, he did have the companionship of a brave redheaded woman, however short-lived. "Am I ever going to see you again?" she asked him, and his heart sunk.

"If I'm lucky," he responded hesitantly, knowing that it was very unlikely.

"Just promise me one thing; find someone," she insisted.

He stiffened. "I don't need anyone." He repeated those words over and over in his mind to make them stick. He would not fall into temptation again.

"Yes, you do," she pressed, "because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you."

The Doctor inhaled painfully. He knew Donna was right. Being alone was too risky. He was full of rage and fire and sadness and righteousness, and all of that together with all his power was dangers. His companions were more than just friends, assistants, or pupils. They were checks and balances. They made sure he played by the rules and didn't go too far.

"Yes," he admitted quietly, thinking all of the beautiful people that been torn from his lives. "Thanks, then Donna," he continued, realizing she was one of those people, "Good luck. And just… be magnificent." He smiled.

"I think I will. Yeah."

The doors were shut once more, and he'd almost made it back to the console when he heard another shout.

"What is it now?" he exclaimed, feigning exasperation.

"That girl that was at the wedding. . . Did you ever find out who she was?"

The Doctor was startled by the question. He'd completely forgotten about the mysterious brunette who kept appearing in important moments.

"I . . . have a lead on her, yeah, but I'm not sure yet," he lied smoothly. "Why?"

"It's just . . . she looks like the sort of person you'd travel with. From what I heard, she was brave, and mysterious and, oh I don't know . . . just . . . all exciting," she grinned.

"So?" he questioned.

"Well, I was just thinking . . . maybe she's the right sort of companion for you. If you can find her, I mean."

"Maybe," he said, shutting the door. "And Donna – thanks again."

It was an interesting thought. The mysterious disappearing girl and the mysterious time-travelling man. If he could find her, it could just work.

The T.A.R.D.I.S. hummed impatiently. Although the Doctor never truly knew what she was saying to him, he could imagine it was along the lines of "What are you waiting for, silly man? You're a genius and she's a human being with strange alien technology. How hard can it be to find her?"

"Right then!" the Doctor exclaimed, jumping about and rubbing his hands together. "Time for another adventure. I'll just do a quick scan for alien tech—" He cut off painfully, thinking of Rose's cheeky plea for him to show off his abilities. "Or maybe just strange energy readings," he finished quietly.

The T.A.R.D.I.S. buzzed violently as its equipment searched all of time and space for strange happenings. The Doctor quickly tapped in some search terms and restrictions to narrow the results.

"Ah, let's see here," he said, flipping on his glasses. "Strange readings all over the place, as expected, but – oh . . . Now what's this little blip?" He selected a large red dot on the monitor. "Aha. Odd weather patterns, big place, medical equipment – that always attracts hostile aliens – and many recent check-ins. Staff all seem to be normal . . . but these readings should not be possible in this area. And what do you know? It's just a few months from now."

He removed his glasses and stared at the ground thoughtfully for a moment before bouncing back to the console and fiddling with the controls, brow furrowed as his mind raced over thousand of theories. There was something very important about his mission. He just wasn't sure what.

**Alright fellow Whovians! I'm sorry for the delay - I've been very busy lately.**

**We're done with Donna (for now . . . I might bring her back later!) and now we're really getting into the meat of the story! Next chapter, we'll learn some more about that mysterious girl who keeps disappearing!**

**Much love. Please review.**


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